Page 24 of Snow’s Charming (Hope Runs Deep #7)

Living Large

I t didn’t take long for the limo to reach the high-rise. Once the driver opened the door, I stepped onto the sidewalk and looked up in awe. Being from the suburbs, I’d never seen such tall buildings before. It was surreal.

“So, what do we do first?” I asked.

Armand smiled and escorted us all into a special elevator that only goes to the penthouse.

“Let me show you to your rooms so you can get comfy. Then I’ll head to my safe deposit box and retrieve my Book of Shadows.”

“Raven, perhaps I should come with you?”

“Accius isn’t after me. Besides, he’s still in upper Manhattan, near Central Park. He won’t look for us in the financial district.”

“I’d feel better if I went with you,” Armand said as he reached for both of her hands, brought them to his lips, and kissed each knuckle .

“The book has a protection spell on it. It knows to go to you, should someone try to steal it. And we both know I’m a hellfire. I’ll be fine, Armand. I promise.”

“Very well,” Armand said with a sigh. “I know better than to argue with you.”

“Great. Then I will get them settled and then make some preparations before leaving to grab the book.”

“All your supplies should be in my library,” Armand said as the elevator dinged, showing we had stopped on the penthouse floor.

The door opened, and my eyes widened at the gorgeously decorated and spacious foyer. It looked as big as three studio apartments put together and had ceiling-to-floor windows overlooking the city skyline.

“This place is huge!”

“I bought the building some 90 years ago and renovated the top floor into a place for myself. A lot of the billionaire vampires did the same thing. The ones who call New York City home live in the financial district.”

Armand shrugged his shoulders. He opened the door, and we all shuffled in.

The inside of the penthouse was just as grand as the foyer.

Crown molding framed each wall. I looked up and three large crystal and gold chandeliers brightened the room every 20 feet.

The great room was enormous and could have doubled as a bowling alley.

Armand placed his keys on a large marble credenza and turned to face us.

“I know you all came from the coffee shop, but can I interest any of you in the hard stuff? After dealing with Accius, I’m sure some of you need it.”

“I could use a shot of whiskey, neat.”

My father gave me the side-eye when I asked Armand for a glass, but I really didn’t care. I’d just learned I was a werewitch. All this time, I’d been trying to hold on to my human half, but now I wondered what it meant to be part wolf and part Jackie. I shuddered at the thought.

“Sesi, I know you’ve had a lot to deal with these past few days?—”

“Dad, please let me forget for just a few moments what it means to be part Jackie—as in I’m a werewitch. I don’t want to process that nugget right now.”

Armand’s eyes darted from mine to my dad’s. He patted my father on the shoulder and gave him a smile.

“Relax, Kenneth. It’s not like she can’t hold her liquor. She’s a shifter, for crying out loud,” Armand said with a chuckle. “Sesi, I only have Scotch. I find it better than the average whiskey.”

“That’s fine.”

“I’ll take one too, Armand.” Said Sylus.

It was now Chary’s turn to give his son a disapproving gaze.

“Chary and Kenneth, really—they aren’t human. And since when have the two of you cared about alcohol consumption? Neither of you waited until the legal drinking age—yet both of your adult children are of legal age. I don’t understand the problem here.”

“We just want to do right by our kids, Armand. ”

My father said this as he accepted the glass of Scotch Armand handed him.

“Dad, you died this week; we resurrected you when we broke you out of that mirror; I learned I am a werewolf, and if I mark my mate I kill him, myself, and the entire pack. A Nuri witch clan is out to kill me and Sylus because of some ancient law I know nothing about. Oh! And the latest thing is, I’m a witch, just like Jackie.

I think a drink—possibly a bottle—is warranted. ”

“See? She has a point.” Armand said as he poured a generous amount of the amber liquor into a tumbler and passed it to me.

“Thanks, Armand,” I said with a smile while taking the glass in my hand. He then handed a glass to Sylus.

“To us getting out of this mess and finally becoming mates,” Sylus said as he clinked his glass against mine.

I smiled at him as I drew the amber liquor to my mouth. The liquor slid down my throat smoothly, to my surprise. Whiskey was my first taste of alcohol.

Scotch was now my second, and my guess, given how smooth the taste was, was that this Scotch wasn’t cheap. Kids my age were getting used to wine coolers or beer, and here I was, relishing the hard and damned expensive stuff.

I liked the Scotch because of the familiar scent. Dad drank whiskey when he was with his brigade. The memories of them all gathered around a card table in the middle of our living room swelled within me as I took another sip.

A silver mist formed on the bar top after I placed my glass down. A book with a green tattered leather cover appeared next to the tumbler. Armand slammed his glass on the table.

“That’s Raven’s Book of Shadows. She’s in trouble!”

“Armand, wait—it could be a trap. Let me go with you.” Zhang said. But before he could get the sentences out of his mouth, Armand had vanished.

“Zhang, I’ll go with you,” I said as Zhang summoned his staff.

“Princess, Accius wants to kill you. I won’t place you in harm’s way.” Said Sylus as he reached for both my hands, kissing each knuckle.

“Then we go together, Sylus. We are stronger together with that shield. We can help not only Zhang but also passersby. If Accius hurts humans, and I wasn’t there to stop it, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“As much as it pains me to say this, Sesi is right. If Accius is battling Raven and Armand out in the open, I’ll need the extra firepower to protect any mortals from stray energy balls. Take my hand. You both are coming with me,” Zhang said.

I clasped his hand just as white and blue balls of light surrounded us. Within seconds, the penthouse was gone, and a blue dumpster in a New York City alley came into my view.

“You will not allow those abominations to procreate!” said Accius from the opposite end of the alley, sailing an energy ball at Raven. The energy dissipated into a fine mist the instant Raven blocked it.

“You don’t have the authority to decide who lives or dies, Accius.”

“But that is where you are wrong. The Common Trifecta Law applies to her.”

“How do you figure that? She’s a shifter—sounds pretty simple to me.”

“Her lineage comprises shifter, witch, and vampire blood! That’s why they cannot procreate.” Accius said, throwing another energy ball in Raven’s direction.

“What in the gods’ fresh hell are you on about now? She is not a vampire. Therefore?—”

“The abomination has the trifecta in her blood. It’s the reason she has the power to heal, resurrect, and shield her pack from harm with the alpha.

All three magical races’ genes can be passed on to their children.

We cannot let that happen. They must die, and along with their pack, to keep the balance of power in check. ”

“I swear you think like my Boomer grandma. This isn’t the 14th century, Accius.” Raven said as she held his energy ball in midair and chucked it back in his direction.

My eyes widened at the conversation. I’d just learned I was a shifter less than a week ago.

I learned I had a witch bloodline minutes ago, but now?

Now I’m told I’ve got vampire blood in me too?

What the fuck? How was that even possible?

From what little I knew about paranormal folklore, vampires couldn’t procreate because they were, for intents and purposes, already dead.

At least their human parts were, anyway.

So, having a kid was impossible. Zhang must have read the confusion on my face and patted my shoulder.

“Accius is wrong about the vampire lineage. Well, sort of. You are related to vampires, but only when they were human.”

I crossed my arms, sucked in a breath, and shook my head before responding to what seemed like lunacy at this point.

“In the future, Zhang, you and I are going to have to sit down so you can explain this all to me. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the whole shifter thing.

The rest is giving me a headache. Raven is right—what is this fresh hell?

I swear the next thing you are going to tell me is that I’m related to Armand. ”

I wasn’t sure why I blurted out his name.

Perhaps it was out of nervousness, or maybe it was a lack of knowing what I was talking about.

But then I noticed the look on Zhang’s face before Accius noticed us.

A look that told me I was in fact related to the powerful vampire whose twin was the King of the Vlad Clan of Vampires.

“What?”

My voice came out mousy and a little inaudible.

“If he will not tell you, Sesi—I will! You are related to Alec and Armand Christianson, who are powerful vampires and masters of the black arts. They helped to bind your powers with Raine when you were little because they were the only ones who could. You need a relative to do a binding of that magnitude. To make it simple for you, blood was exchanged. Therefore, you are a trifecta abomination and must be vanquished at all costs.”

Accius shot rapid-fire energy balls my way, and if I weren’t so pissed at my family for keeping so much from me, I probably would have cowered to Accius. Instead, my shield grew to a five-inch thick fortress, housing Zhang, Raven, Sylus, and Armand.

“You are doing great, Sesi—keep it up!”

The words from Armand almost didn’t register. Yeah, I was pissed, but that didn’t mean I wanted Armand dead. But why was he suddenly praising me like a father figure? Did he realize he was caught and wanted to get on my good side? He picked a shitty time to do it since we were battling Accius.

A massive amount of energy grew within my belly. It was anchoring me to the street as if I were a living statue cemented to the ground I was standing on. I tried to understand the energy, fully aware of my surroundings. I couldn’t let my wolf out on the city streets.

The last thing any of us needed was my risking exposure. Humans weren’t meant to know shifters existed—let alone vampires and all the other creatures that go bump in the night.

But? Something kept telling me this energy differed from anything I’d known within the past week. The sensation was that of being thrown to—well—for lack of a better word, the wolf inside me! It was as if even the wolf was pissed at everyone because they kept her out of the loop, too.

The protective barrier now radiated a reddish hue as opposed to the white one from the past week.

I wasn’t sure if I liked what was transpiring, especially since I wasn’t all that comfortable being half…

No, that isn’t right. A third of Jackie.

Yeah, that’s it. But if this new power could stave off Accius’s attacks, I’d welcome it!

The bile rose within my belly, and I wasn’t sure I appreciated it. Something was pissing me off; that much I could tell. Because—let’s face it—I was furious right now. Too many people who care for me have kept things from me. And these things were too big to sweep under the rug like they did.

I mean, I guess I couldn’t blame them. They were trying to protect me—something that I totally get since I’m here now trying to do the same for them. But why shield me from knowing that Armand and I were related? Especially since they knew I’d meet him. I don’t understand why.

Accius’s latest energy ball ricocheted off my dark red shield and hit the dumpster. Shrill screams pierced my ears as they emitted from the direction of the dumpster. Then, a distinct cry followed.

A baby?

“Don’t hurt us! I promise I won’t tell anyone about you! It’s not like anyone would believe me. Just don’t hurt me or my baby.”

Fuck! Humans were hiding in the dumpster!

I knew it in my gut, and suddenly my shield reached out to this woman’s voice and her child’s cries as she let herself out of the dumpster.

“You’re safe from danger,” I told her with my palms outstretched.

I wasn’t sure if she’d believe me, but at least I was trying to make some kind of sense of what was going on.

Unlike my family, who’d left out a lot about magic and the paranormal.

Accius, though? He kept firing energy balls at me, and as each one hit against the shield, the woman cradled a protective huddle over her baby more and more.

I turned to face him.

“Hey bright boy—haven’t you figured out by now that shit doesn’t work on me?”

His eyes widened as he saw my protective barrier surrounding the woman and her baby.

“No magical species ever yielded the power to shield humans from harm! I was right. You are an abomination.”

He raised his hands over his head, and an energy ball the size of a compact car rose above him, lighting the dark alley as if the sun rose inches away from us.

It was the largest ball of energy he had sent so far. I wasn’t sure if I could take the blow, but I had to try. The size alone might destroy the buildings on either side of us, and I wouldn’t allow him to hurt any mortals.

My shield spread to form a protective barrier with the bricks of each building between us before he let out a guttural cry. The ball was then hoisted from his hands and headed my way. Just as the thing connected with my barrier, a woman appeared.

“Sesi, quickly, place a separate barrier around this energy ball.”

I looked at the woman in amazement. How did she know my name, and why did she look so familiar?

“Sesi! Listen to me. You need to form the barrier now, or the entire street block will crumble.”

Her eyes were as deep as the color of the Aegean Sea.

Her hair was a gorgeous shade of platinum blonde, and I couldn’t help but comply with her.

I held out a hand, and soon, a second and separate barrier formed around the energy ball.

Within seconds, it imploded inside the second barrier.

I gasped with a sigh of relief once I realized we were all safe.

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Goddess, how can you side with such an abomination? No matter. You are a goddess, and we all have free will. I will make this right another day!”

Accius said this as the implosion dissipated. He then waved his hand and disappeared into a red mist.